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There are lots of happy accidents when it comes to creative work.

I'm not sure how I did this, but one day I had my inking Pentel Aquash water brushes out and I also had watercolor out, and I decided to dip the tip of my ink brush into the watercolor. I loved the results and wanted to share with you how I achieve this effect!

Here are some examples of work I've posted on Instagram with this effect. I truly love how it looks. My friend Amber called it “moody” and I agree!

Materials Needed

To achieve this effect, you need a pen filled with semi-transparent black ink. This is one time where you don't want a really saturated, dark black ink; you want the watercolor pigment to be able to shine through!

Here are the materials I use. You can certainly try this with different supplies.

It's important to pull your watercolor into a mixing palette for this effect because you don't want to dip your ink brush pen directly into your watercolor pans.

Mixing and Blending Watercolor with Ink

It's simple from here! Dip your ink-filled water brush pen into the watercolor you've pulled into your mixing palette, then write. The color will automatically blend from watercolor to ink. The more you dip your brush back into the watercolor, the more colorful your calligraphy will be.

Learn Brush Lettering

The Getting Started with Brush Lettering e-book was designed to be a guide for brush lettering beginners—for those of you who want to dive into brush lettering but have no idea where to start. This comprehensive guide will get you started with an in-depth look at materials, practice strokes, drills, and next steps for your passion.